Industry Insider : NatRoad

Warren ClarkNatRoad

NatRoad, the National Road Transport Operators Association, was formed in 1994 when the Long Distance Road Transport Association and the National Transport Federation decided to combine their respective strengths to form a new, nation-wide industry association. Current NatRoad Chief Executive Officer is Warren Clark.

Australia’s road freight industry quite literally keeps this country moving. On an average day, around five million tonnes of freight are moved within Australia. Over three-quarters of Australia’s non-bulk freight is carried on roads.

With the safety concerns in road transport increasing, it’s become more important for the industry to consider how their vehicles perform against safety measures. Poor braking performance is one of these important factors. Between many test systems in place across the country, however, operators are struggling to understand why the results are often inconsistent. In many cases, members have turned to NatRoad to help understand the confusion.

One of the key benefits to becoming a member of NatRoad is the free-of-charge advice on how to manage your workforce in line with the Road Transport Awards. Every day, we receive a range of enquiries about the entitlements of employees and ways to resolve workplace issues.

Many years of advocacy by the Australian Trucking Association and our members has finally resulted in people in the trucking industry gaining the same rights as other Australians. They are now innocent of chain of responsibility offences till proven guilty.

Truck safety laws are changing and compliance is more important than ever.
On 1 October 2018, the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) will be amended to introduce a strong primary safety duty, extensions to the chain of responsibility to cover vehicle maintenance and repairs and explicit due diligence obligations on executives. The changes will require trucking businesses and customers to increase their focus on developing and maintaining appropriate safety systems.

“And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars”.

These magical words by Banjo Paterson struck a chord with me early on in life and have inspired many a day and night on the road for me ever since. Sadly, much of my time now is spent in the ‘dingy little of office,’ so I thought it was time to walk in the shoes of drivers and spend some time to better understand rest stop quality and shortage, which is becoming a major issue for trucking.

Without trucks, Australia stops. This was the resounding message at the Australian Trucking Association’s annual Trucking Australia conference, held in Canberra in April. This conference was our most engaging and innovative yet, as we welcomed more than 500 delegates to take part in informative sessions, invaluable workshops, the ATA safety summit and networking events.

In the 12 months ended September 2017, the number of deaths in New South Wales from crashes involving articulated trucks such as semi-trailers increased from 29 to 54. That’s an increase of 86 per cent.

Back in July, the tax office announced a rash decision to slash employee truck driver meal allowances. In 2016–17, employee truck drivers were able to claim up to $97.40 per day for meal expenses, on a meal-by-meal basis, without detailed receipts.